Copyright © 2016Mohammed H. Hassan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. International Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 5 (2) (2016) 110-114 International Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences Website: www.sciencepubco.com/index.php/IJBAS doi: 10.14419/ijbas.v5i2.5765 Research paper Correlations of circulating levels of oxidants, antioxidants and soluble Fas in breast cancer among Egyptian females Sayed H. Madboly 1 , Elsaeid M.E. Elbawab 2 , Abdallah M. A.A. El-Ebidi 3 , Omar A.E. Sayed 4 , Mohammed H. Hassan 5 * Tahia H. Saleem 6 , Sameh S.E. Elsayed 2 1 Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt 2 Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Assiut, Egypt 3 Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Aswan University, Egypt 4 Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University, Egypt 5 Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Qena Faculty of Medicine, South Valley University, Egypt 6 Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Egypt *Corresponding author E-mail:mohammedhosnyhassaan@yahoo.com Abstract Background: Breast cancer is the first most common malignancy in Egyptian females. Oxidative stress is considered to be involved in the pathophysiology of all cancers, especially breast cancer. An inappropriately low rate of apoptosis can give rise to cancer. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to asses, compare and correlate the circulatory levels of some oxidants (malondialdehyde "MDA" and nitric oxide "NO"), total antioxidant capacity "TAO") and soluble form of Fas "sFas" in some Egyptian females having breast cancer. Methods: A cross sectional case/control study conducted on 50 Egyptian females recruited from outpatient clinics or inpatients depart- ment of the general surgery at Sohag university hospital, divided into 30 females with malignant breast lesion and 20 healthy females as a control group. Colorimetric assay of serum levels of NO, MDA and TAO, while, sFas was determined using ELISA method. Results: There were significant high levels of NO, MDA, TAO and sFas in malignant group than in control group with p-value < 0.0001, high positive correlation between NO, MDA, TAO and sFas in malignant group ( r= 0.958, 0.807, 0.748 respectively and P< 0.0001 for all). There was high positive correlation between NO and TAO in malignant group (r = 0.78, P < 0.0001).There was also, high positive correlation between MDA and TAO in malignant group (r = 0.81, P < 0.0001). Conclusion: These results support the oxidative stress hypothesis and resistance to apoptosis in development and progression of breast cancer. Keywords: Breast Cancer; Egyptian Females; Oxidative Stress; Soluble Fas. 1. Introduction Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in the world. Approximately every tenth cancer diagnosed worldwide is a breast cancer. Breast cancer is also the most common cancer and the most common cause of cancer death among women worldwide [1]. The ancient Egyptians were the first civilization to document clinical cases of breast cancer, as shown on papyrus paper dated 1600 BC “The Edwin Smith Papyrus” found in Thebes in 1862 until translated in 1930 describing a case of very cool bulging tumours of the breast, on touch, with no fever, granulation, or fluid secretion and mentioning that, there are no treatment[2- 3]..Breast cancer cancer represents a serious health problem and is currently the most frequent malignancy in female population. According to the National Cancer Institute, Cairo, Egypt, breast cancer is the first most common malignancy in Egyptian fe- males[4]. Usually, breast cancer is discovered before any symptoms are present, either on mammography or by feeling a breast lump. Pos- sible symptoms include breast discharge, nipple inversion and changes in the skin overlying the breast. Screening methods sug- gested include breast self-examination and mammography[5- 6].The The diagnosis of breast cancer is established by the patho- logical examination of removed breast tissue. Such tissue is gener- ally obtained at the time of surgical treatment. A number of proce- dures have been devised to obtain tissue or cells prior to the treat- ment for histological or cytological examination. Such procedures include fine-needle aspiration, nipples aspirates, ductal lavage, core needle biopsy, and local surgical biopsy. Imaging tests are used to detect metastasis and they include chest x-ray, bone scan, CT, MRI, and PET (Positron emission tomography) scanning [6- 8]. Oxidative stress is considered to be involved in the pathophysiol- ogy of every cancers [9], especially breast cancer [10]. Oxidative stress caused by increased free radical generation and/or decreased antioxidant level in the target cells and tissues has been suggested to play an important role in carcinogenesis [11].Free Free radicals are capable of altering all major classes of biomolecules, such as lipids, nucleic acids and proteins, with changes in their structure and function [12].The The term "free radicals" designates a family of compounds characterized by great reactivity due to the unpaired electron in the outer orbital. To this group belong reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as super oxide anion, hydroxyl radical and hydrogen peroxide, as well as reactive nitrogen species (RNS) which include nitric oxide and peroxynitrite. They are mainly